Cybel The DP’s '85 Essential Films You Must See to Know Anything About Why She Loves Film'

Spike had a list. Scorsese had his. But when can we talk about the films that make a female filmmaker tick?!! And that’s when I remembered I’m also a writer. We’ll start with my list.

When Fast Company posted Scorsese’s list, it immediately went viral. It’s a great list and I committed to seeing every film on there. However, I was a little perturbed by the title: “85 Films You Need to See to Know Anything About Film”. Sounded a little harsh and sensationalistic. If you scroll down, you’ll see “list of 85 films that the director said most influenced him.” That’s an entirely different reason you should watch these films. It’s not to know everything about film but to appreciate what gave birth to his personal aesthetic. Equally important, but different.

Since film school, I’ve kept a list of all the films that had a notable impact on me. There are over 400 titles. As many of you know, I watch at least one film/day (#nfotd) that I’ve never seen before. Because I watch so many films and am nerdy enough to compile a list, fellow film friends have bugged me to share it. When Scorsese’s was published, I decided to whittle mine down to 85 and share that. Not an easy task. At all.

My criteria: must be a film that influenced the type of DP/Artist I’ve become, opened me to a new visual way to express a narrative or a visual representation of my philosophy on life. A few had to be included simply because I could not live without them. They are not necessarily my favorite films, the most important in film history nor the ones I find most entertaining.

This list is “as of March 2012” (when I first saw Scorsese’s). Since then, I’ve seen “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”, “Holy Motors” and “Mishima”; three films that might have more of a right to be on my list than others. I also included 4 documentaries (thus 89 titles).

After much agony, I chose not to include the film I’m named after. I still wonder if I should have swapped “The Birds” or “Monty Python” for “Hannah and Her Sisters” or “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. And I still can’t commit to which Ophuls belongs. All of them?

Before we begin, this is what I’d like you to remember: these are 85 films that influenced me. See them. Don’t. Agree. Throw tomatoes at the computer screen. But more satisfyingly, I encourage you to write up your own list of 85 films that influenced you as an artist, that influenced you as a bank teller. Whatever. Post the list. If you’re on Twitter, cc me @CybelDP, include hashtag #My85 and I promise to retweet them.